1. Dean has consistently said that he was working on further tax proposals to make things "more fair." Such ideas have been bantered about since October of 2002 within the Dean campaign.
So he didn't "borrow" his proposals from Kerry or Clark.
2. The Bush tax cuts were not wise because they overwhelmingly helped the rich, and did nothing to stem the rising cost of things ranging from health care to education.
That's the Dean "Bush tax increase" argument.
- A Dean tax cut proposal focusing on simplifying the system in no way contradicts his earlier comments.
- Adjusting the payroll tax system (perhaps excluding the first 15,000 dollars from that tax) could be balanced out by raising the ceiling to include higher income.
A system that pays for itself is not exactly a risky tax cut proposal.